Match-box.



J. 0. BROWN.

MATCH BOX. APPLICATION FILED APR. 22, 1912.

Patented J an. 7, 1913.

1N VEN T 0R W] T NESSE 5 COLUMBIA PLANOGRA PH cm, WASHINGTON. n. c.

JOHN OELLIG BEowN, 0E CONCORD, TENNESSEE.

MATCH-BOX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 7, 1913.

Application filed April 22, 1912. Serial No. 692,349.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, J OI-IN 'OELLIG BROWN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Concord, in the county of Knox and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and use ful Improvement in Match-Boxes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

My invention relates to match boxes made of proper form and size to be carried in the pocket, the box having a hinged lid.

The object of the improvement is to combine with the match box a member which constitutes a portion of the mechanism of the box and which may be removed and used as a tool for cleaning a tobacco pipe and for tamping tobacco in the bowl of the pipe after the tobacco has been lighted.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional view of a match box embodying my improvement, the box being open; Fig. 2 is a similar side view of the upper portion of the box, the lid being closed; Fig. 3 is a section on the line, 3-3, of Fig. 1, looking downward; Fig. 4 is an elevation of the upper portion of the box, looking toward the left in Fig. 2, none of the parts being broken away; Fig. 5 is a section on the line, 55, of Fig. 1, looking toward the right; Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the member which constitutes a spring for controlling the lid of the box and which also serves as a tool for cleaning a tobacco pipe and for tamping the tobacco in the bowl of the pipe after the tobacco has been lighted.

Referring to said drawings, A is the body of the box, and B is the lid. The box is preferably made of sheet metal and flat and elongated to adapt it to be carried in the pocket. A hinge consisting of a member, 1, secured to the body, A, a member, 2, secured to the lid, B, and a pintle, 3, secures the lid to said body, the member, 1, being secured to the wall of the body by rivets, 4, and the member, 2, being secured to the lid by rivets, 5. A cam member, 6, is also secured to the lid by means of said rivets, 5, said cam member lying fiatwise upon said hinge member, 2, and extending thence downward and slightly forward, when the lid is closed, and extending toward the front of the box and upward, when the lid is open. The outer or free end of said cam member is provided with a notch or recess, 7. A retainer or pocket, 8, is secured to the interior face of the back wall of the body,

A, said retainer or pocket opening upward a little way below the upper edge of said body and tapering thence to or toward said wall. Said retainer or pocket is formed of sheet metal and has at its lower end two cars, 9. A rivet, 10, extends through each such ear and the adjacent wall of the body, A. Near its upper end, said retainer or pocket has at each side an car, 11; and a rivet, 12, extends through each such ear and the adjacent Wall of the body, A.

O is a tool member which serves as a tool and spring for the lid. This is shown separately, in Fig. 6. The lower end of said member has a point, 13, while the upper end has a head, 14%. The stem or shaft of said member is flexible, and the thickness of said stem and the inner opening of the retainer or pocket, and the length of the cam memher, 6, are such as to cause the cam member to bear constantly against said shaft when the latter is in position in said retainer with its lower end extending to or substantially to the bottom of the retainer. When the lidis open or raised, the cam member engages said shaft above a line cutting said shaft at right angles and extending through the axis of the hinge of the lid, so that the pressure of said shaft toward the lid will tend to turn said lid farther away from the body, A. hen the lid is closed, said shaft and said cam member engage below said line cutting said stem and said hinge, so that said stem presses rearward against said cam member and tends to turn the lid farther downward, by which means the lid is held closed. When the lid is in the raised position, a stop, 15, on the back of the lid bears against the knuckle of the hinge and prevents further rearward turning of said lid.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the movement of the lid toward the open and toward the closed positions is automatic, in response to the pressure of the shaft of said flexible tool member against the cam member, whenever said cam member has been moved a little way across said line which cut-s said stem at rightangles and extends through said hinge axis.

When, on inserting the tool member, 0, into the retainer or pocket, 8, said member is inadvertently pressed downward so far as to cause said cam member to be engaged by the base of the head, 14:, of said member at, 16, whereby the free end of the cam member is pressed downward far enough to cause a partial closing of the lid, the tool member may then, or later on, be raised by manually turning the lid back as far as permitted by the stop, 15. Said tool member need be pushed downward only far enough to cause itsrhead to clear the lid when the latter is turned downward for closing.

The tool member is formed of suitable flexible material, as, for example, steel, and the shaft of said member and its point, 13, are thin enough to adapt said member to be used as a tool for removing ashes and other material from the bowl or duct of a tobacco pipe. The head, 14, of said tool member is of suitable size to adapt said too] member to be used as a tool for tamping tobacco downward in the bowl of a pipe after such tobacco has been lighted.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a match safe, the combination of a body and a lid hinged to said body, a retainer located within said body adjacent said hinge, a cam member on said lid adjacent said hinge, and a removable tool member having a head and bearing against said cam member, said retainer and said tool member being relatively flexible, substantially as described. 7

2. Ina match safe, the combination of a body and a lid hinged to said body, a pocketform retainer located within said body adj acent said hinge, a cam member on said lid adjacent said hinge, and a removable, flexible tool member having a head and bearing against said cam member, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name, in presence of two witnesses, this twelfth day of April, in the year one thousand nine hundred and twelve.

JOHN OELLIG BROWN.

Witnesses:

I. N. TAYLOR, F. A. DOUGHTY.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

